Chapter Sixteen

Third Person POV

After potions was over, Draco told Taylor to head to the library without him. When she raised an eyebrow at him, he smiled at her and told her he wanted to talk with Professor Slughorn about their essays on the impact of the Elixir to Induce Euphoria. He knew she knew he was lying, but she didn't say anything and left without another word. Once he was certain she was out of the class and far enough down the corridor, he made his way to Slytherin common room and waited outside the entrance.

He didn't have long to wait when he heard Blaise talking with who he assumed was Crabb since Pansy was on the other side of the castle in Herbology.

When the two other Slytherins rounded the corner, they paused when they saw Draco standing there. "Uh, I'm just gonna...go inside." Crabb mumbled, realized the blonde's glare wasn't aimed at him and quickly ducked away, muttering the password so he could get into the safety of the common room. Once they were alone, Draco carefully stepped forward and reached up like he was going to brush dust off the darker skinned boys shoulder, but Blaise was taken by surprise when Draco grabbed his tie and began to drag him down the corridor.

"Drake! What the hell? Let me go!" Blaise yelled, struggling against the blonde, but was getting nowhere due to his enhance strength. Draco didn't say anything and continued down the corridor until he found a nook where no one would see them. Draco dragged the darker boy around and slammed him against the wall.

"Never. Go near her. Again." he growled. As the seconds ticked by, he could feel the potion he'd taken Monday morning starting to wear off. He didn't understand, since it was supposed to last till Sunday. He could feel his Veela hormones taking over, but the odd thing was, he didn't want to stop them. Not yet at least.

"What? What're you taking about? Put me down, damn it!" Blaise yelled again, struggling against the grip at his throat.

"Taylor! If you ever corner her again, I wont think twice about ripping your throat out!" Draco yelled, remembering the feeling of fear Taylor had felt because of his grandfather's ring. He could feel anger rising at the thought of something happening to her. "Leave her alone, Blaise. I'm giving you a warning. If it happens again, don't think I'll be so forgiving." he growled and dropped his childhood friend.

Draco glared at Blaise as he slid down the wall and, without another word, left the dungeons. He quickly made his way to the library where Taylor was waiting for him.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to take so long." he said, causing her to jump as he sat down next to her.

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Draco was fairly quiet as they worked on their homework and it was starting to bother Taylor. "Are you sure you're okay, Draco? You're acting odd." she said and Draco looked up from his Transfiguration homework.

"I'm fine, honestly. I promise." he told her and gave her a reassuring smile. She gave him a pointed look, but nodded and accepted his answer. "Have you told your parents yet?" he asked, changing the subject.

Taylor sighed and bit her lip before turning to him. "I haven't. I'm worried about what my dad's going react. Not only is he not going to like the idea of his only daughter dating, he's definitely not going to like the fact that her boyfriend is an overprotective Veela." she said and Draco grinned, holding back a laugh. "Don't laugh! It's not funny! My dad'll kill you if he finds out!" she whispered angrily, smacking him in the arm.

"Love, don't you think he'd rather you date someone he knows will never cheat on you and will do everything to make you happy than some bloke off the streets?" he asked and she smiled.

"Maybe you're right. But if you get death threat letters, don't come crying to me. I warned you." she laughed and Draco grinned.

"Why don't you wait till we go on Christmas break to tell them?" he offered with a smirk and she sighed.

"Have you told your parents?" she asked, turning things around on him, but he was prepared.

"My mother knows, but father doesn't. Mother thought it would be a better idea to keep it from him until things became official between us. Actually, she wanted to know if you'd like to come over for a week during Christmas break. She's really looking forward to meet you." he said and Taylor smiled warmly at him.

"I would love to, but I'll have to talk things over with my mom. I have no doubt she'll want to have the whole 'boy talk' again." she said and then a disgusted look came across her face. "Oh god, I'm definitely not looking forward to that. It was bad enough the first time." she added, shutting her eyes and shaking her head to get rid of the memories. Draco chuckled, remembering when his father had the same talk with him.

They both looked up in surprise when someone cleared their throat. Much to their surprise, Blaise was standing at the end of their table with a sheepish look on his face. Draco began to growl in the back of his throat, but stopped immediately when Taylor kicked him under the table. "Can we help you, Blaise?" Draco asked coldly.

"Um, I was wondering if I could talk to you two?" he said and Draco glared at him. Taylor sighed and nodded to the other Slytherin. "I...had a little talk with Professor Snape after my run-in with Draco and he, uh, told me about your...predicament. I just wanted to...apologize. If I'd known what you meant to Draco, I never would have said what I did." he said to Taylor as Draco continued to glare at him, sitting down across from the two. "I don't want lose Draco as a friend and if that means accepting what's going on between you two, then fine. I might not like the fact that you're a half-blood or a Gryffindor, but I...guess I'm happy he actually found his mate and isn't going to die."

"Wait, what do you mean 'die'?" Taylor asked, turning to Draco.

"Well, if a Veela doesn't find their mate or they get rejected, they die of broken heart." Draco explained, mentally smacking himself for not telling her sooner.

"Why didn't you tell me this? I could've done something!" she said, her voice getting louder. Draco sighed and took her hand, running his fingers over the ring.

"I didn't tell you because I promised myself I wouldn't push you into anything I didn't think you were ready for. That's one of the reasons we haven't gone 'public' about our relationship." he explained and Taylor stopped to think. He really hoped she wasn't going to blow up at him, but what she said next surprised him.

"That's oddly really sweet. I really appreciate why you're doing this, Draco, but I don't want to put you through any unnecessary pain. If us being together keeps you from dying, then you better believe I'm going to do everything I can to make sure nothing happens to you. I might not have read everything in the book, but what I did read told me that just because you're the Veela, it doesn't mean I can't be protective too." she said and after she did, Draco did something he never did. He went on pure impulse and leaned forward and kissed her.

It was their first real kiss and, to Draco, it was the most wonderful feeling in the world to have his lips on hers. He wanted nothing more than to stay like that for forever, but someone clearing their throat brought him back to reality. He pulled away a fraction and opened his eyes. She still hadn't opened hers and he took the opportunity to run his thumb over her bottom lip. "Thank you. You have no idea that by you saying that, you've made my Veela purr louder than it ever has before." he said and she finally opened her eyes to look straight into his.

"Is that a good thing?" she asked shyly and Draco grinned and nodded his head.

"You better believe it is." he chuckled and leaned forward to peck her lips once more.

A/N: I'm procrastinating and I really shouldn't be, but I really like writing this and I don't wanna stop! It doesn't help that I do ALL of my writing on my school laptop and every time I decide to sit down and work on my research paper, the unfinished chapter stares at me and begs me to finish it. Oh well. I'll figure something out. Don't forget to leave a review!